Taekwoon loved the white mark tattooed on his body. It wrapped around his torso in an intricate pattern of swirls and shapes. He didn’t know anyone with a mark as large and detailed as his, making it all the more special. And the matching mark on his soul mate was just as beautiful, spanning the length of his arms instead of his torso.

He loved Sanghyuk’s mark even more then his own. When they’d first met, he’d spend hours running his fingers over the lines. He couldn’t believe that he was responsible for something so beautiful. Sanghyuk would always blush at his actions, at his expression of wonder, insisting that Taekwoon’s mark was the real beauty.

Taekwoon had grown up thinking that he would never meet his soul mate. There were lots of people who never met their soul mate, like his parents. He told himself that it was alright if he never met his soul mate either. His parents were perfectly happy with each other and that not every person who met their soul mate ended up married to them, so it was fine. He was fine with it.

And then he met Sanghyuk.

He’d walked into the dorm with the other trainees, pausing when he saw Sanghyuk standing there. His first thought was that Sanghyuk was adorable, he’d even go as far as to say he was perfect. And then he noticed the mark slowly coming into being on Sanghyuk’s exposed arms. Everyone noticed and they all watched in amazement, it wasn’t often one got to actually see a mark forming after all. As Taekwoon realized what it meant, that Sanghyuk’s soul mate was in the room with them, he felt beyond disheartened. Which was silly because he hadn’t even said a word to Sanghyuk yet. Heck, he didn’t even know his name at that point.

When everyone else realized that Sanghyuk’s soul mate stood among them, there was a rush to check for who had the matching mark. Taekwoon had half heartedly checked himself over, freezing when he saw his mark. He blinked, trying to figure out if this was real or not, before looking up at everyone else. He couldn’t remember saying anything, but he must have because suddenly everyone was congratulating him and pushing Sanghyuk towards him.

The teen was just as shocked as he was and more than a little intimidated by all the attention. That was when Taekwoon’s protective streak took hold and he quickly dragged Sanghyuk away from everyone. Once they were alone and had time to think about what had just happened, they talked. There wasn’t an instant romantic relationship between them, love took time to form, but it was a start.

After the glow of finding his soul mate died down, Taekwoon started to worry. He worried that being soul mates would jeopardize their dream of being idols. He’d heard about other trainees who had been passed over because they’d found their soul mate, their companies unwilling to debut an idol who was in a relationship. Some ‘fans’ didn’t take too kindly to their bias being unavailable, soul mate or not, and would cause problems. Problems that made attached idols undesirable in the eyes of some companies.

Taekwoon didn’t tell Sanghyuk about this, didn’t want to upset the teen, but somehow Sanghyuk just seemed to know what he was thinking. Since neither could think of a solution, they decided that they would just deal with it when and if it happened. They wouldn’t stress themselves out worrying about something they had no control over. Instead, they would just lay together and enjoy the comfort and peace that came from being together.

When it came time to pick the final lineup for VIXX, both were selected. The CEO assured them that everything would be alright, that they shouldn’t worry. Their members told them that they had their backs, that everything would be fine. Taekwoon still worried though. He worried that the group would fail because he and Sanghyuk were soul mates and he worried about the effect the possible hate could have on Sanghyuk. He was especially worried about Sanghyuk.

Turned out, the CEO and members were right. Taekwoon had no idea how it had happened, but everything was fine. In interviews, everyone was always telling him and Sanghyuk how beautiful their marks were. At fan meets and signs, the fans would always express how lucky he was to have such an amazing mark and an adorable soul mate. There were a small handful of hateful comments, but it wasn’t anything to worry about.

As time went on, things stayed good. VIXX grew more popular, only a handful of people were bothered by he and Sanghyuk being soul mates, Sanghyuk grew taller and more confident while he became more open, and life was pretty darn perfect. Even when their schedules were busy and they didn’t have any time together, life was still wonderful. Taekwoon once told Sanghyuk that he wondered what they had done in a past life to get so lucky.

“I love you,” Taekwoon sighed, trailing his fingers over Sanghyuk’s mark.

“I love you, too,” Sanghyuk replied, moving to kiss Taekwoon.

A/N: I think the ending might be a little weak. Or maybe I’m just being too critical of my work. Either way, I do like this one a great deal. And with that, the Halloween Soul Mate Collection Vol. 2 comes to an end. …........….or it would if I hadn’t decided to do a couple more soul mate AUs. See, we still have several more days of October left and thus it felt way too early to end this. So I tried to think of some other soul mate AUs and now you guys are getting five additional chapters! Lucky you guys, am I right? haha